Into the Twilight

The quartet landed in Ponyville near the main gate. Slightly dazed, the four adjusted their bearings, the first thing that stuck out was the sky.

"Hey Twilight," Rainbow noted, "Isn't the sun supposed to be out right now?"

Twilight eyed Applejack arguing with Caramel, surrounded with a few other folks who looked more than a little irritated.

"Yeah, I suppose it is. Starlight, wasn't Trixie supposed to be in charge of handling the sun illusion?"

Starlight glanced over at Twilight nervously, "I may have only suggested it to her, I didn't exactly make it her responsibility," Twilight began to glare at her, causing Starlight to panic, "I didn't want to pressure her into doing something that I'm not entirely sure she can do!"

Twilight sighed and began to walk over to the arguing crowd, "I suppose that makes sense. I wish you would have told me though. We are already running low on food as it is, and the Earth ponies can't grow crops in these conditions."

Starlight's ears lowered in response, "I-I'm sorry, Twilight."

"Oh finally, Princess Twilight is here. She'll have this all sorted," Caramel said as Twilight and the others approached the crowd.

"What's wrong, Caramel?" Twilight asked as she glanced over at Applejack, who was starting to look more than a little impatient.

"Applejack's been holding out on us, we know she keeps barrels of apple cider in her cellar. Now normally, I know it's reserved for special occasions, but we're starting to run really low on supplies. Shouldn't we should start distributing it out to all the ponies that need it?" Caramel asked, some of the crowd nodding in agreement.

"Now hang on just a second," Applejack said firmly, stomping her hoof into the ground, "We might be running low on food, but that don't mean we're short on water, or dyin' of thirst for that matter. Ponyville is next to a river for Celestia's sake! The only reason your doin' this now is to get an early taste of this year's cider."

Caramel opened his mouth to argue again, but was interrupted by Twilight's sudden intervention, "Really? Are you bucking kidding me? This is what you are arguing about?"

Caramel was at a loss for words, Twilight pressed on, "My friends and I were nearly mauled to death by packs of Outsiders, Equestria has had all contact from the outside world cut off, Princess Celestia herself is dead, and you are mad because you can't have bucking cider right now?"

Caramel looked like a fish out of water, desperately struggling for air. Twilight growled at him, "I'm only going to say this once, and this goes for all you other ponies who feel the need to voice a complaint right now. I'm at the end of my wire right now, and my castle is equipped with dungeons, do not make me use them for the first time."

The crowd went dead silent, before dispersing quickly. Applejack was the only one that stayed back, giving Twilight a small smile, "Ah appreciate that Twilight. Ah didn't think ya had it in you to make the crowd back down like that."

Twilight returned her smile, "Anything for a friend, Applejack. Do me a favor and help me gather the rest of us, I have something planned for us."

"Y-You want us to do w-what?!" Fluttershy squeaked before becoming faint, using Rarity to hold herself up.

"I want us to go to the Castle of the Twin Sisters," Twilight stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Twi, I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, we just got back. We were only gone a day and we already have problems in Ponyville, we haven't even put the sun back up yet. I doubt too many ponies would take kindly to us leaving again," Rainbow Dash said, adjusting the sling around her crossbow.

"I must agree, Twilight. I heard about your quarrel with Caramel earlier, your reputation is going to falter if you keep leaving Ponyville without telling everypony," Rarity added while comforting Fluttershy.

"As much as I'd love to come with ya this time, you know ah can't. I gotta catch up on harvesting apples or else we aren't gonna have  enough food to feed everypony," Applejack stated.

Twilight rubbed her head in frustration, she knew her friends were going to do this, and they were right. She couldn't leave Ponyville again, not unless she wanted riots to ensue. She needed to keep things under control, and she needed to plan out this next expedition. Twilight came up with a compromise.

"Alright, I'll start to plan out this expedition, but we won't leave Ponyville for at least a week and a half. We need to recuperate and make sure that Ponyville is in the best condition possible before we head out," Twilight stared at each of her friends, "I won't make you go, but I can't do this alone. I'd like it if all of you went, but I understand if you'd rather stay in Ponyville."

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced towards Twilight, "Of course we'll go silly! We just can't go right now! Ponyville needs us, they need you more than anything!"

Twilight smiled at Pinkie, "I know. I'm going to get us prepared for this expedition. In the meantime, I'll make sure that Ponyville is in working condition, and I'll make an official announcement to the rest of Ponyville. It looks like not everypony knows what's going on right now, so I'll make sure to answer any questions before we finally go."

Twilight's head was briefly filled with images of her former teacher, and second mother. "If anywhere holds information about Princess Celestia, it's the Canterlot Archives, but seeing as we can't go there right now, the Castle of the Two Sisters is our next best bet."